Berklee Contemporary Symphony Orchestra in Concert

Tuesday / April 13, 2010 / 8:00 p.m.

First Church of Boston

66 Marlborough Street

Boston

MA

United States

02116

The Berklee Contemporary Symphony Orchestra will perform an exciting concert featuring selections from Patrice Rushen’s Martin Luther King Suite, with the composer in attendance. The concert will also present premieres by the winners of the BCSO Composition Competition: Sonya Belousova’s "By the Pike’s Wish," and Simone Scazzocchi’s "Toys (Chapter 3)."

Violinist and Presidential Scholar Ada Pasternak will be performing the first movement of the Sibelius Violin Concerto. Pasternak was born in Moscow and emigrated to the United States at the age of 6, where she began taking violin lessons with her aunt, violinist Asya Meshberg. A year later at the age of 7 she was accepted into the Manhattan School of Music as a scholarship student of the notable violin teacher Albert Markov.

She continued on with her training in classical music for 10 years, winning numerous competitions and receiving awards. Pasternak performs regularly and has participated in several festivals, including Arcandor in Bennington, Vermont and Chamber Music Institute for Young Musicians at the Rich Forum in Stamford, Connecticut. As a Grand Prize Winner of the Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra Competition, she was featured as a soloist with the orchestra in 2002. In 2004, Pasternack placed first in the prestigious Carlson-Horn Competition for Young Instrumentalists.

Over time, Pasternak developed an interest in playing other styles of music. After being accepted to Berklee with a Presidential Scholarship, she was able to pursue her interests in contemporary music. For the past two years, she has recorded with numerous singer/songwriters, exploring genres such as pop, blues, and country. Her plan and desire is to form her own band that incorporates many different styles of music and performs internationally, with Pasternak improvising and cowriting with her band members.

The First Church of Boston is at on the corner of Berkeley and Marlborough Streets in Back Bay.